1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head protecting airbag device provided with an airbag which is folded and housed on the upper edge of a window on the interior side of a vehicle so that it can expand and inflate downward from the upper edge of the window when it admits inflating gas, to cover the vehicular interior side of the window. More particularly, the invention relates to a head protecting airbag device which is constructed so that the airbag is guided by a guide member as it expands and inflates.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there is a head protecting airbag device, which has a construction disclosed in JP-A-9-249089 and so on.
In this head protecting airbag device, there is arranged an airbag folded and housed on the upper edge of a window and a guide member which guides downward the rear edge of the airbag when the airbag expands and inflates. This guide member is vertically arranged so as to extend along a center pillar portion of a vehicle. This guide member connects a ring-shaped connection member, which is arranged at the rear edge of the airbag. And, this airbag device is so constructed that the airbag is inflated while being expanded downward along the guide member, by sliding the connection member downward along the guide member.
However, the head protecting airbag device having the aforementioned construction is not so constructed that the airbag expanded and inflated covers substantially the whole face of the vehicular interior side of the center pillar portion.
Even if the head protecting airbag device of the aforementioned construction is so modified that the airbag having completed its expansion and inflation covers substantially the whole face of the vehicular interior side of the center pillar portion, it would still be necessary to provide a pillar garnish on the vehicular interior side of the pillar portion to cover the guide member, with an breakaway portion or the like to be broken and opened at a line along the guide member so that the connection member can slide downward when the airbag expands and inflates. This is because the connection member to be connected to the guide member having the aforementioned construction is arranged not at the rear edge of the airbag but at an intermediate portion of the airbag.
In the head protecting airbag device thus constructed, however, in case the opening is not smoothly formed when the airbag expands and inflates, the downward movement of the connection member is obstructed, and the airbag may be unable to expand smoothly along the guide member.